


Stand-In

by saltyspacerock



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Angst, Cute, F/F, First Date, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Maria goes by "Lewis" for her last name, Modern AU, Sweet, This gets sad, bc her husband SUCKS, fake date I guess??, i have yet to see one like it, ive been waiting for this fic, so I will provide!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-09-01 02:43:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8604070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saltyspacerock/pseuds/saltyspacerock
Summary: Prompt: Person A goes on a date, but their date never shows up. Person A sits at a table alone, humiliated. They are about to leave when Person B sits down and says "Sorry I'm late babe, traffic was horrible." They do not know each other, but Person B goes on a staged date out of sympathy. Whatever happens next is up to you.





	

He was late.

Maria sat there in the restaurant, at a two person table, alone. Pitiful. She stared at the empty seat in front of her with regret. Fidgeting, she looked back to the door for what seemed like the hundredth time.

No one.

She could feel people's pitiful eyes on her, wondering who stood this pathetic woman up. She bit her lip and looked down at her lap, feeling everyone's eyes drilling into her.

She knew they were wondering about this woman in the nice red dress with bruises and scars on her arms and legs. They wondered about her life and who had left her. Maria began to sniffle, but delicately rubbed her eyes as to not disturb her makeup.

The date had been scheduled for three months. James promised her he would take her somewhere nice. Maria got there first to surprise him, and hopefully patch things up from their last fight.

She had thought this would be okay. Her husband was probably passed out, dead drunk in their home.

Maria tilted her head up and caught a glimpse of a group of people in a booth nearby. They had all been looking at her but they turned back and pretended to be talking. Maria scoffed under her breath, taking a sip of her water. Go ahead and stare, she thought. She was lonely, and she knew it.

The three people who had been staring were all women-- they looked like sisters. One was tall, and had long curly hair and defined features. Another was shorter, clad in yellow and had a childish face. The third--

Maria's heart stopped, mid-sip of water. She froze.

This woman was gorgeous. A soft, kind face, long brown hair that spilled over her shoulders. She wore a gree sundress and had her slim fingers neatly folded in front of her. Her full lips were red with lipstick, and barely moved as she spoke under her breath to the woman she was sitting with.

The mysterious, beautiful girl noticed Maria's staring and eyed her. Her eyes flickered up and down, and she gave her a pitiful smile.

Maria nearly choked on her water, jolting forward slightly. Her face flushed almost as red as her dress. She turned away from the woman.

Maria knew that she was bisexual, but she still felt horrible when she found herself getting attracted to women. James had reiterated many times that he hated it when she got distracted by others, and Maria felt bad every time.

Maria looked down to her lap, trying to make it seem like she HADN'T been staring at her. She set her water down and quickly busied herself with her phone, checking her texts.

 **Maria:** where are you??

 **Maria:** did you forget our date tonight??

 **Maria:** I called you three times please pick up

 **Maria:** you better Not be drunk again

 **Maria:** James you're thirty minutes late

 **Maria:** james

Maria let out a breath, sadly. She tucked away her phone back in her purse, not wanting to look at it again. She rubbed her eyes again.

The waiter came over, a gentle look on his face. He held two menus, and Maria felt a pang of pain in her heart. He had been coming over every few minutes or so, asking when her date would get here.

"Would you like a menu? Or do you need more time?" He asked carefully.

Maria forced a smile. "No, no, it's alright..." she breathed. "I'm sure he'll be here any moment now."

Thats what she had been saying for the past 45 minutes.

The waiter nodded,  a look of regret on his face. "Right. I'm very sorry, ma'am, but if you don't order anything in the next fifteen minutes... I'll have to ask you to leave."

Maria let out a breath and nodded. "Right, yes... I'm sorry. If he doesn't show up, I'll.. I'll let myself out."

The waiter gave her such a pitiful smile, the way one would would look at a dumb puppy. He nodded and walked away, Maria giving him a mumbled "thank you."

She rubbed her eyes again, a lump beginning to grow in her throat. She was so stupid. Did she really expect this to work out? James could barely make sense of anything when he was sober, let alone not even here. He was most likely in a Club somewhere.

Forget spending time with your wife.

It would probably be best if she had just left.

With a shaky breath, she picked up her purse and put the strap over her shoulder. She checked her phone, one final time, just to see if James had even given her a lazy excuse as to why she was stood up.

Nothing.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of the chair in front of her being pulled out. Her head whipped up, a simultaneous fear and hope in her mind.

It was the beautiful woman from before.

"Hi." She said gently. "Sorry I'm so late, traffic was brutal."

For a moment, Maria was confused. The woman leaned in (Maria could almost smell her perfume, and she went weak in the knees) and whispered to her gently "I'm Eliza. Whoever stood you up is a jerk. Just go with it, alright?" 

Her voice was so light and full of love. Maria just nodded slightly, gulping. She put her purse back down again, then rubbed away the tears that almost welled up in her eyes.

"So, what's your name, darling?" Eliza asked her. Maria's heart jumped, the word "darling" resonated in her mind.

"Maria." She all but choked out, voice strangled. She cleared her throat awkwardly.

Eliza smiled. "Nice to meet you, Maria." Eliza turned around and raised up her hand, calling the waiter with a polite "excuse me, sir."

The man turned around and came over, notciably happy about that seat being filled. "Hello, ma'ams. May I take your order?"

"I'll get some pasta for the both of us. Does that sound alright to you?" Eliza turned to Maria.

"Oh. Y-yes please, thank you."

Eliza looked back to the waiter. "And a milkshake to share." She gave Maria a swift wink.

The usually sultry and upstanding woman was now melting like ice cream in a sauna. Maria's face was as red as her dres at this point. All she could do  now was nod meekly and say "sure, thank you."

The waiter scribbled down the order, flashed them a grin, and rushed off the the kitchen. Maria let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

Looking back at Eliza now, she grinned. It had just now set in the she was about to share a dinner with a beautiful, kind woman. She began to giggle to herself a little, catching the other woman's attention.

"What?" Eliza chuckled.

"Its just--" Maria sighed. "Thank you. For sitting with me."

"No problem."

"No, really." Maria urged, leaning forward. "Thank you so much. I-- I was getting pretty embarrassed."

"Understandable." Eliza smiled. "So, who's the asshole that stood you up?"

Maria became a bit shocked at the foul phrase emitting from such a beautiful mouth, but she let it roll off her back. "My husband." She mumbled slightly, twisting the ring on her finger nervously.

Eliza raised her eyebrows. "Really? What a douche." She growled, balling her hands into fists.

"It's not that big a deal, really." Maria tried to cover up. "This happens all the time..."

"This isn't the first time this has happened?" Eliza became angrier. "That's horrible!"

"I just..." Maria sighed. She looked down at her lap. "I just need to be more patient is all. He has a life too."

"No," Eliza said. "He needs to spend time with his wife. From the information I've gathered, You are not the problem."

Maria's face softened. "Thanks." She said. "But I don't need any pity."

"I'm not pitying you."

"Then why did you come sit with me?" Maria almost snapped. Her heart dropped immediately after saying that. Eliza looked taken aback for a moment before responding.

"Because you're beautiful." Eliza replied. "And incredibly patient."

Maria began to blush again, and she focused on twiddling her fingers on the table. Eliza reached a gentle hand over and laid it on top of her clasped fingers.

"You deserve better." She said, voice low.

It was now Maria's turn to be taken aback. "I--" she began to say, but she stopped. She began to giggle, and just tucked one strand of stray hair behind her ear. "Hush."

"It's true." Eliza responded, smiling. "Your husband doesn't deserve a woman like yourself."

"Stop..." Maria started grinning.

"I'm serious!"

The two chuckled for a little while, holding hands and smiling.

Maria saw, out of the corner of her eye, the two other women from the table Eliza came from watching them. The oldest quickly looked away, but the younger still stared, unaware Maria was looking. The older poked her sibling until she got her attention.

Maria turned back to Eliza. "So, who're the girls you were sitting with?"

Eliza smiled. "My sisters.. Angelica  and Peggy."

"They seem nice."

"Eh, they're alright." Eliza joked. The two began to laugh again.

Their food soon arrived-- a large plate of spaghetti (cliche as it was) and one milkshake with two straws in it. Even just looking at it made Maria blush slightly.

It was strange, now that she thought about it, how she was so good with men but couldn't handle women. Maybe because they were so much prettier, and far more appealing than men were. Men never quite gave her the same flutters in her stomach the way women could.

This case was immediately closed when Eliza began to drink the milkshake, delicate lips sipping it through a straw. Such an innocent and cute scene made Maria blush even more.

Eliza looked up and smiled. "Don't you want some?" She asked, pushing the glass closer to the red-clad woman.

Maria froze and nodded. "Thanks." She took a delicate sip, and on the other end of the spectrum, Eliza got butterflies in her stomach.

The two ate and talked, drinking their shake and eating their spaghetti. At one point, they very nearly pulled a "Lady and the Tramp"-like moment where they had the same string of noodle in their mouths at the same time. Maria mistakenly bit it, and cursed at herself under her breath.

After about an hour, Angelica and Peggy came over to their table. The sister who seemed to be Angelica smiled, putting her hand on Eliza's shoulder. "So, 'Liza," she smiled. "How's your date?"

"Great." She turned to Maria and grinned. Maria smiled back.

"Ooh, who's this?" Peggy leaned over to Maria.

"I'm Maria... Lewis." She said her maiden name instead of James'. It never felt like her own.

"she looks sorta like you, Peg." Angelica said.

Peggy looked back at Maria, scrunching up her face in confusion. "I don't see it."

Eliza and Maria giggled amongst themselves.

"Well, you two..." Angelica leaned on Eliza's shoulder. "It's getting late. I think it's about time we head back home."

"Really?" Eliza fake-pouted. "We're having a nice time."

Maria smiled sadly. "No, she's right... I should be back to James by now."

Eliza frowned. "Maria... You shouldn't worry about him." She said gently. "I'm sorry, but... James doesn't seem like the right person for you."

Maria stayed quiet, twisting the ring on her finger.

"Tonight's on me, darling." Eliza stood, putting her signature on the bill. She looked at the woman in front of her quietly. "..Are you alright?"

Maria nodded quickly. "Yeah, yes... thank you. For everything tonight."

Eliza smiled at her sadly, taking her hand and helping her stand up. "I'll walk you home."

Maria smiled back. "Thank you."

Peggy let out a whistle, and Angelica gave her a playful thump on the arm. The four laughed.

Maria and Eliza walked out hand-in hand, both with grins and springs in their step. And for once, Maria had forgotten about James Reynolds.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!! Pleas leave me a comment-- praise or criticism, either or is fine. Or a short request!


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